Cooking for Kids: Chefs’ Go-To Recipes That Keep It Simple and Please the Picky - The Wall Street Journal

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Cooking for Kids: Chefs’ Go-To Recipes That Keep It Simple and Please the Picky - The Wall Street Journal

Cooking for Kids: Chefs’ Go-To Recipes That Keep It Simple and Please the Picky - The Wall Street Journal

Posted: 25 Jun 2021 06:39 AM PDT

I BEGAN WRITING about my son and his tricky eating habits six years ago. At the time, Achilles was only four and I was a cookbook author and restaurant critic for the New York Observer newspaper. The first book inspired by our dinner dynamic—my passion for food, his distaste for it—was a children's book called "Can I Eat That?" It was an imaginary dialogue meant to foster a love of xiao long bao, tournedos and tostadas in young readers. I wanted to get away from the finger-wagging, carrot-and-stick routine Achilles and I had developed à table. Six children's books later, it's safe to say that, apart from content creation, the mission hasn't been a success. Achilles only eats bread, pizza (without the sauce) and Parmesan fritters from a place near our house in Brooklyn that charges $10.95 for three paltry bâtonnets.

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Even two years ago, when I began work on my newest cookbook, "Cooking for Your Kids," the situation seemed less dire. At the time, I was still living with my two children—Achilles has a wonderfully omnivorous younger brother, Auggie—and their mother. Dinner was a battle, but at least there were two adults to fight it. Now as a divorced dad, on the nights when I face my son across the table, I have no backup. So compiling a collection of recipes designed to feed children was deeply personal. I was genuinely desperate. I thought if I could poll 50 of the world's greatest chefs who also happen to be parents—or, technically, 64 since some of the recipes came from chef couples—I might be able to find more foods to appeal to my proudly hungry son.

" Compiling a collection of recipes designed to feed children was deeply personal. I was genuinely desperate. "

Many of these mothers and fathers are, like me, besotted by food and faced with children who are not, at least not right now. The recipes that began arriving were indeed simple and quick to make—time being stretched tight as a drumhead for all parents. With eventual adventurous eating the goal, these recipes tended, wisely, to expand the boundaries of preference without rupturing them. Many allowed a wide margin for both parental error and juvenile taste. For example, the spicy scrambled eggs (aka khageena) recipe at right, from London-based chef Asma Khan, can be made with variable levels of heat. Will Goldfarb wrote from Bali of a vegetable frittata he makes for his daughter, Loulou: "Overdone, underdone, a little burnt….it's always great." The cheese-and-potato proto-pancake called frico that Slovenian chef Ana Roš makes for her children, Svit and Eva Klara, is almost embarrassingly easy to make. Ditto the pasta with tomato and anchovy sauce that Brazilian Alex Atala makes for his three children. (The kid-friendly trick is to combine the onions, capers, anchovies and olive oil in a blender until you get what looks like a cream.)

More useful still—for me, at least—were the conversations I had with the contributors about their own struggles with their children at the table. When it came to cooking for their kids, many of these acclaimed chefs had gone through the same cycles of insecurity I had. Some made their way into the book; a few remain private.

Chef Brooke Williamson confessed, "Certainly I am not alone in feeling that I couldn't do anything right." Jocelyn Guest recalled her partner, Erika Nakamura, leaping over the counter to save their daughter, Nina, from choking on watermelon. Like me, David Lentz and Suzanne Goin had one adventurous eater and one creature of habit. Their recipe in the book, a Vegetable Pistou Sandwich, is geared more toward the adventurous one. And they're fine with that.

The book comes out in a couple of weeks. I wish I could tell you I have found some magical dishes that Achilles will eat—and not just because it would be an uplifting ending that might sell more copies. I can't tell you that. It's still bread, pizza (without the sauce) and overpriced Parmesan fritters for him. What I have learned is that even some of the world's greatest chefs find their children to be the toughest crowd of all. On my nights to cook, it really does help to know I'm not alone.

Chef Jonny Rhodes (Indigo, Broham Grocers, Houston): "As I am from Texas and live in Texas, I can tell you that chili is life. Mac and cheese is also life. In this dish, I bring the two together. There's a little bit of a kick in this, thanks to the pepper paste, but my kids love the heat. It's a part of their lives. At Indigo, I really had time only to cook breakfast with the kids, but I'd also make a pot of this for [my daughter] to take to school. In an airtight container, it keeps well and hot until lunchtime."

Ingredients

  • Salt
  • 3 cups large elbow macaroni
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup diced yellow onion
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup tomato paste
  • ½ cup pepper paste, such as harissa
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
  • 2 cups shredded white cheddar

Directions

  1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook macaroni according to the package directions until al dente. Drain well.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and cook until tender but not burnt, about 5 minutes. Add beef, season with salt and pepper, and cook until browned and crumbled, 10–12 minutes. Carefully drain off fat from pan.
  3. Return beef to low heat, stir in tomato paste and pepper paste, and cook until flavors meld, 5–8 minutes. Add milk, butter, and cheddar, and bring to a boil. Add cooked, drained macaroni. Serve as soon as ingredients are well melted.

—Adapted from "Cooking for Your Kids" by Joshua David Stein (July 14, Phaidon)

Chef Asma Khan (Darjeeling Express, London): "Khageena, or spicy scrambled eggs, is a great way to introduce the flavors of green chiles with something children already find familiar and comforting, eggs. The level of spice is also adjustable. While portioning out the khageena, simply avoid the chiles, and children will taste only a gentle hint. I've always liked making this dish for my own children as it felt special having a 'grown-up' breakfast with their parents, even when they were quite young. This was my way to encourage them to eat with my husband and me on weekends. My older son would often help beat the eggs. When he finally went off to university, the first thing he did was send me a picture of khageena he had made."

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 large white onions, chopped
  • 3 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 fresh green chiles, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon chile powder
  • 8 eggs, lightly beaten
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Directions

  1. In a frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add onions and fry until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and chiles, and cook until tomatoes soften, 3–4 minutes.
  2. Add turmeric and chile powder and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Pour in beaten eggs and cook gently, stirring until you achieve a soft set. Season with salt. Taste and check the seasoning, as you may need to add more.
  3. Serve eggs warm, garnished with cilantro.

—Adapted from "Cooking for Your Kids" by Joshua David Stein (July 14, Phaidon)

Walter and Margarita Manzke (République, Los Angeles): "Adobo is a staple of the Philippines. It's like our peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I [Margarita] love making this for Nico and Olivia because it connects them to our Filipino culture, even though we live far from my family in Manila. Both kids love this quick and easy lunch, which is pretty rare! Nico's getting better, but for a long time if it wasn't ice cream he wasn't interested. It's also something I can make in the small window I have after I pick them up from school but before dinner service starts at the restaurant."

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Make the adobo sauce: In a bowl, stir together white vinegar and soy sauce. In a pot, combine onions, garlic, black pepper, star anise, bay leaf and vinegar/soy mixture. Bring to a boil and cook until onions are translucent. Remove from heat and let cool. (Adobo sauce will keep, refrigerated, up to 1 week and can be used on everything from chicken to pork to fish.)
  2. Make the chicken fried rice: In a stainless-steel pan, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until browned. Add chicken and cook thoroughly. Add rice, increase heat to high, and cook mixture for 3–4 minutes. Add adobo sauce, stirring to coat rice and chicken evenly, and cook to heat through, 1–2 minutes. Salt to taste.
  3. To assemble: Divide rice mixture into four bowls. In the same pan used to fry the rice, heat more oil (if the pan is dry) and cook eggs sunny-side up. Add an egg to each bowl. Top with scallions and pickled chiles.

—Adapted from "Cooking for Your Kids" by Joshua David Stein (July 14, Phaidon)

Karena Armstrong (The Salopian Inn, McLaren Vale, Australia): "We have three boys, five years apart in total, so it's safe to say our house is hectic. The boys are a hurricane of energy and, especially as they get ready for school, the mornings pass in a blur. But they still need to eat. Each of the kids plays sports after school, so they need a healthy and filling lunch. For these, I prepare all the ingredients the night before, sometimes at the beginning of the week, and simply assemble in that morning rush."

Ingredients

    For the noodles:

  • 5 ounces baby spinach
  • 17½ ounces noodles, such as sweet potato, soba or udon
  • 1 ounces fresh ginger
  • 6 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

    • For the tofu:

  • 3½ tablespoons rice bran oil or similar neutral oil
  • 17½ ounces firm tofu, cut into 8 even slices
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons oyster sauce or hoisin sauce
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

    • For the garnishes:

  • 3 bunches Chinese broccoli or similar greens
  • 3 sheets nori
  • 1⁄3 cup toasted sesame seeds 
  • 7 ounces frozen shelled edamame. thawed
  • 2 avocados
  • 4 free-range eggs, hard-boiled (for 6 minutes)

Directions

  1. Cook the noodles: Put spinach in a colander and set in the sink. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain hot noodles into colander over spinach and mix well. Finely grate ginger into a large container and add to noodles. Add soy sauce, olive oil and sesame oil, and mix really well. Refrigerate until required.
  2. Cook the tofu: Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan. Once hot, add tofu and cook both sides until golden brown. Remove to a plate. In a bowl or cup, whisk together soy sauce, oyster sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil. Pour over hot tofu. Cool until needed.
  3. Prepare the garnishes: Set up an ice bath. Steam Chinese broccoli very quickly and plunge into ice bath to chill. Drain well and chop into small bits. Toast nori in a low oven until crisp. Store in a sealed container. Have all ingredients ready to assemble the lunch boxes, but don't slice the avocados or peel the eggs until the day of. Use extra dressing from the tofu and noodles to add moisture.

—Adapted from "Cooking for Your Kids" by Joshua David Stein (July 14, Phaidon)

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Appeared in the June 26, 2021, print edition as 'Pro Moves to Please Picky Kids.'

Countdown to the 4th of July! 14 Recipes in 14 Days That Are Sure To Please: DAY 6 - STLtoday.com

Posted: 25 Jun 2021 02:30 PM PDT

Let's be honest we are all ready to get out, gather, social un-distance, and catch up with friends and family. 4th of July has a tendency to be a big barbecue/potluck kind of holiday and could be just what we need to get us back to the good old days. So we thought we would deliver 14 recipes over the next 14 days counting down to the holiday weekend. We hope our creations inspire your culinary creativity and wow some taste buds at the same time.

S'mores Dessert Squares

There is a reason they call them S'more, because they are so darn good you want some more. Well these dessert bars are no different. These dessert bars scream decadence by combining chocolate, pudding, and whipped cream together to make the filling. All the classic flavors without the fire!

Let's dig in!

S'mores Dessert Squares

You will need the following ingredients:

72 vanilla wafers, divided

5 Tbsp. butter, melted

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding

3-1/4 cups cold milk, divided

2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1-1/2 cups thawed Whipped Topping

1-1/2 cups Miniature Marshmallows

1/2 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate, grated

Let's get to cookin:

Step 1: Heat your oven to 350 degrees

Step 2: Crush 40 wafers and mix them with butter and sugar. Press the mixture on to the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.

Step 3: Beat chocolate pudding mix and 1 ¼ cups of milk with a whisk for 2 minutes. These automatic whisks really take the work out of whisking. Spread over the crust. Cover with remaining wafers. Whisk vanilla pudding mixes and remaining milk for 2 minutes. Stir in whipped cream. Spread over the wafer layer and refrigerate for 3 hours.

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Step 4: Heat your broiler. Top dessert with marshmallows and broil for 1 minute or until marshmallows are lightly browned. Top with grated chocolate and serve!

This will definitely have your friends and family asking for S'more!

We hope you enjoy the products we recommend. We may receive a commission if you purchase a product mentioned in this article.

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5 simple recipes when prep, cooking and clean up seem too much - The Washington Post

Posted: 23 Jun 2021 09:00 AM PDT

Cold Tahini Noodles With Vegetables, pictured above. One of the best things about this recipe is how adaptable it is with the veggies you have on hand. All you need to do is boil your noodles, make a sauce, throw in the veg you want and mix together. Best of all, you won't produce too many dirty dishes, and you can make a large batch to have lunch on later days, because it's designed to taste good cold.

Fourth of July Recipes: From Our Family to Yours - C&I Magazine - Cowboys and Indians

Posted: 25 Jun 2021 12:52 PM PDT

To celebrate Independence Day this year, our staff shared their favorite meals to enjoy with family and friends.

In our recent July issue, our staff shared some of their favorite Fourth of July family recipes and mealtime memories. Here, we break down the ingredients and directions for a few classic dishes to enjoy along with the fireworks.

Hot Dogs
 Hot dogs with mustard, relish, and shredded cheeses. Bush's Honey Baked Beans. Cold beer. And, if I'm lucky, a marathon of classic Western movies or TV shows on a cable or streaming channel.
—Joe Leydon, senior writer

Potato Salad
 My very best memories of food on the Fourth are of my mom's German potato salad. Everyone else in my family especially loved her lemon meringue pie, and there was a lot of dessert anticipation at our backyard cookouts. But the main attraction for me as a kid was her potato salad. I rarely eat bacon anymore, but if I were to go on a bacon bender, it would be for this tangy-sweet warm dish of skin-on red potatoes, parsley, sugar, vinegar, garlic, a little Dijon mustard, and not just bacon but bacon grease! Best to digest while lighting sparklers and watching fireworks with the family.
—Dana Joseph, editorial director

Coleslaw
 My great-grandmother's coleslaw! I didn't realize how far this recipe went back until my sister included it in a family cookbook a few years ago, but it goes all the way back to Mary Laskowski, my dad's paternal grandmother, born in 1896 in south Texas to first- and second-generation Polish immigrants. Pretty amazing!
—Emily C. Laskowski, managing editor

Ingredients:
2 lbs. cabbage
½ onion, diced
½ green pepper, diced
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. salt

Dressing
 ¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup vinegar
½ tsp. celery seed
Red pepper flake to taste

Directions:
1. Placed cut-up cabbage in a large bowl.
2. Add onion, green pepper, and salt – stir around.
3. Pour sugar over cabbage, etc.
4. Cover and let sit for at least an hour.
5. Drain excess liquid from cabbage in colander. Sometimes I rinse with cold water to get as much sugar off as I can.
6. Rinse large bowl of remaining sugar and return cabbage mixture to large bowl.
7. Add dressing and mix together. Red pepper flakes are optional.
8. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Corn Dogs and Rice Krispies
 A tradition in my house is homemade corny dogs and for dessert rice crispy treats made into the American flag. They are so much fun to make with my kids. Placing the hot dogs, or for me chicken apple sausage dogs, on a stick and dipping in the corn meal batter to deep fry in the oil. For dessert, coloring the rice crispies and making layers of red and blue to design an American flag. These two recipes combined make the perfect summer and Fourth of July statement.
—Kera Gonzales, accounting assistant and business subscriptions

Red, White, & Blue Salad
 Easy. Red, white, and blue salad: Watermelon, blueberries, goat cheese, and I use a Champagne vinaigrette. Yummy and beautiful!
—Brandy Minick, associate publisher

Frito Corn Salad
 I love Frito corn salad. Although, I don't think salad is a very accurate description. Nothing screams summer more than shucked corn, and of course nothing is more American than mixing something healthy with mayo and cheese. The fresh corn, mayo, shredded cheddar cheese, red onion, green bell pepper, and Frito mixture is something you can pair with the classics — hot dogs and hamburgers.
—Kaylee Brister, digital editor

Summer Salad
 I love a good summer salad with surprising ingredients. This one's is a winner, especially if you have a cherry tomato plant that produces like crazy.
—Sharon Kilday, senior designer

Ingredients:
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups cubed seeded watermelon
6 large basil leaves, thinly sliced
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients.

Heirloom Tomato Salad
 My favorite food for 4th of July is usually some kind of grilled or smoked meat. That is pretty broad and not really a recipe though…so I'll say heirloom tomato and burrata salad, which makes an excellent side dish with meat. I cut really good heirloom tomatoes (the more colors the better) into chunks, season them with a little salt and black pepper, throw on generous dollops of creamy burrata cheese…then finish with some ripped-up basil and a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar. If I have peaches on hand and a hot grill going, I'll slice those, grill them for a few minutes and mix them in with the tomatoes, before topping with the burrata, basil, and balsamic.
—Matt Russell, regional sales manager

Strawberry Shortcake
 Good Old Strawberry Shortcake!
—Ann Kidd, chief financial officer

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs strawberries, stemmed and quartered
5 tbsp. sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups heavy cream

Whipped Cream
 1 ½ cups heavy cream, chilled
3 tbsp. sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest (optional)

Directions:
1. Mix strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in medium bowl. Add heavy cream and mix until just combined. Place mixture in ungreased 8-inch square pan and bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes.
4. Remove shortcake from pan and place on rack to cool slightly. Cut into 6 pieces and split each piece in half horizontally.
5. Spoon some of the strawberries with their juice onto each shortcake bottom. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and the shortcake top. Spoon more strawberries over the top and serve.

For whipped cream, beat all ingredients until soft peaks form, about 1 ½-2 minutes.

Easy Strawberry Shortcake
 One of the easiest ways to get mouths watering at your July Fourth gathering is to construct a strawberry shortcake before the very eyes of your guests. Cut an angel food cake in half horizontally, grab some whipped topping and a container of cut strawberries that have been marinating all day in simple syrup. Put all the good stuff between the cake layers and then pile it on top as well, with plenty of strawberries showing. See how long it takes them to start cutting.
—Hunter Hauk, editorial director

Homemade Ice Cream
 Homemade ice cream was always my favorite food to have on the Fourth of July. My Mom would mix up the recipe and my Dad would hand crank the freezer. My sister and I would try our hand at turning the crank but the closer it got to freezing the harder it was to crank. It was certainly worth the time and effort because eating homemade ice cream is the perfect ending to a festive day.—Marcia Ordway, office manager

Ingredients:
2 Junket™ Rennet Tablets
2 tablespoons cold water
1 can Carnation evaporated milk
6 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 quarts Whole milk
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 box Rock salt
Cracked ice

Directions:
1. Dissolve Junket® Rennet Tablets in cold water. Set aside.
2. Combine milk, eggs, and sugar in a double boiler. Cook on medium heat stirring constantly until mixture is thick. Remove from heat.
3. Add dissolved Junket tablets and vanilla. Stir until mixed and pour into 4-quart freezer canister. Let set at room temperature until cool.
4. When cooled, place container into the ice cream freezer and pack with alternating layers of ice and rock salt. Begin churning until it is frozen.

5 creative fried chicken recipes from TikTok - Yahoo Sports

Posted: 25 Jun 2021 03:09 PM PDT

Fried chicken is a dish so popular, you can find it pretty much anywhere. It's on the menu at both fast-food restaurants and fine dining establishments. The go-to dish can be served on its own, on a sandwich and even with waffles for a delicious sweet and savory dish. If you love fried chicken but are looking for some new and exciting ways to prepare it, here are five creative fried chicken recipes you should try.

1. Ramen fried chicken

Love ramen? This is the fried chicken recipe for you. TikToker @chefchrischo makes a ramen fried chicken batter using salt, pepper, garlic, egg, potato starch and, of course, ramen. He pours several ramen flavor packets into the batter and uses crushed ramen noodles to give the batter extra texture. Then he fries up the chicken and adds a bit of additional ramen flavoring to the chicken once it's cooked to give it an extra kick. 

Decode and demystify Gen Z's latest online slang terms with In The Know's new glossary.

2. Vegetarian fried 'chicken'

Who says vegetarians can't enjoy a delicious piece of fried "chicken?" To make this vegetarian fried chicken, TikToker @lexaltirs combines flour and water into a dough, then washes and strains it to create a wheat gluten product known as seitan. He then coats the seitan in spices, dips it in eggs and flour, and fries it until it's crispy and golden brown. The result looks and tastes so similar to real chicken that the TikToker claims his brother couldn't tell the difference.

3. Blackberry Buffalo fried chicken

This fried chicken truly has it all. It's sweet, salty, spicy and double fried for extra crispiness. TikToker @chilipeppercooks starts by making a batter with buttermilk, red pepper flakes, sriracha and garlic powder. He coats chicken legs in the batter, dips them into a mix of potato starch and cornmeal, then fries them twice at different temperatures. Finally, he coats the fried chicken in a sauce made from blackberries, sugar, honey and Thai chili powder.

4. Sticky garlic fried chicken bites

These sticky garlic chicken bites are the perfect bite-sized snack. TikToker @cookwithmariyah starts by seasoning their chicken pieces in salt, pepper, paprika and garlic. Then, they dip the chicken in eggs and breadcrumbs, and fry it in oil. Finally, they coat the chicken bites in a mix of soy sauce, honey, cloves and sriracha to make fried chicken bites that are a little bit spicy and full of flavor.

5. Fried chicken bao buns

Soft and chewy bao buns and crispy fried chicken are a match made in heaven. TikToker @cookwithmariyah marinades pieces of chicken in a mix of spices and buttermilk, then dips them in more spices and flour, and fries them up. Once fried, they pour a sauce made from brown sugar, soy sauce, hot sauce and honey onto the chicken. Finally, they fill bao buns with the fried chicken and some red onions coated in sugar and vinegar.

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If you liked this story, check our video on how to make "Big Mac tacos."

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